Traces of Affection - One Shot
by RMSE
Summary: Sasuke couldn't help but click his tongue in agitation, his hand resting on the bed. "I'm the idiot here..." he whispered. "Who am I kidding..." He let out a slow, saddened breath before raising his hand once more. Instead of following the intricate structure of Naruto's back, he softly and slowly wrote the very words he'd never say outloud: "I love you."


Sasuke x Naruto

NARUTO (c) M. Kishimoto

Warning: Implied sexual conduct.

 _ **WHEEZES REALLY HEAVILY.**_

HEY. HELLO. YEAH. HI THERE. YEAH. I'M NOT DEAD. *LAUGHS INTO HER GRAVE.* I won't ramble too much here - if you wanna know what's up, check out the god awful author's note at the end of the fic! ;v;

* * *

It was the first time Uchiha Sasuke had ever had anyone over. It'd be a lie if he denied he was anxious about it. He knew very well this was probably abnormal for a seventeen-year-old male, but he had a lot of odd things about himself that he just didn't have the effort to be insecure about. He was a reserved person by nature, never caring to open up to others, which painted him as the loner type (he didn't mind that conclusion). No one ever seemed worth his time to bother.

But then there was this guy - this beautiful, moronic being that took over his bed for the night. He didn't sleep with the most graceful of faces, mouth widely agape with limbs sprawled about in a wonton manner, and though he'd usually find that quite off-putting, right now he almost found it endearing - cute, almost, if he wanted to push it to a further extreme. Soft snores escaped the slumbering man, sounding akin to an odd purr, which was mildly amusing.

 _He's more like a puppy with how he sleeps..._ Sasuke thought, a faint smile appearing on his face. The raven was sitting with his one leg bent up and arm outstretched over his knee, cheek pressed into his shoulder as his eyes remained admiring the fool across from him. He was positioned in the middle of the futon he'd brought into his room for him to sleep on the floor, sacrificing in order for Uzumaki Naruto to take the comfort of the bed. The blond had tried to decline the offer at first and even crudely suggested that they shared the bed, but Sasuke was surprisingly stubborn - the raven just simply didn't want to fuck up the first time he had actually allowed someone to come into his home - his room - like this. He was already written off as an asshole at school; he at least wanted show he was a semi-different person at home, though why he wanted to show such a side to Naruto to begin with was far beyond his spectrum of logic.

He and Naruto had started out utterly despising every fiber of each other's beings but somehow, throughout the school days, their heated anti-relationship turned into one of reluctant understanding and from there it blossomed into an awkward and competitive friendship. They still threw names and insults at each other but such statements didn't hold nearly half the malice as in the beginning. Now it was just how they were - perhaps how they'd always be.

That caused Sasuke to frown. He didn't want things to remain as they were. He felt like it would become too much for him eventually - keeping up this facade - and he didn't want that. He didn't want this to blow up in his face. As much as he always wanted to keep Naruto as a friend, Sasuke couldn't help but desire more - perhaps too much more from the blond. _If he knew..._ the raven thought bitterly, snorting quietly. He lowered his head, his right temple pressing into the inner side of his arm as he glowered down at the blankets below him.

Time and time again he'd tried to reason out how or why he'd developed this affection for this drooling idiot and time and time again he couldn't find anything. He'd decided to blame it on raw science - chemical reactions; teenage hormones; something beyond his control. That was the only answer that soothed his desperately seeking mind. Too often the raven felt more than frustrated in his craving for the class clown and too often Sasuke wanted to either punch Naruto or just sock himself in the face for being so pathetically into him and everything he did.

Whether it was a stupid joke or a lame pun or even just the other being a complete klutz - all of it... Sasuke loved all of it.

Sasuke loved all of him.

 _I love him so much..._ the Uchiha thought painfully, gripping the fabric over his chest as he felt his heart ache. His brows draped down, teeth gritting forcefully. _I don't know how to stop..._ "Damn...!" he cursed a little too loudly, stiffening when he heard the faintest of groans emit from the blond on the bed. He flicked his dark eyes to the form, noting he'd only merely rolled over, handing Sasuke his bare back.

 _Why does he have to sleep shirtless... Damn it..._ Sasuke swallowed thickly, lips pressing thin as his eyes feverishly drank in the grooves and dips and the over all sculpture that was Naruto's back. He wanted to touch it; he wanted to feel every inch of that muscular flesh in front of him. Would Naruto notice...?

Senses forgotten, Sasuke shifted, moving forward to the very edge of his bed where he sat with his rear end on the heels of his feet. Gently, he pressed his elbows into the mattress and, cautiously, he reached out his fingers but stopped just mere centimeters over the form that effortlessly drove him crazy. _... I'm losing my mind..._ _How would I explain this if he woke up...? You had a bug on you? Would he believe me...?_ Probably, Sasuke concluded - Naruto was that idiotic.

Bearing that in mind and becoming more bold than he'd ever felt before, the very tips of his fingers brushed against Naruto's tan skin with a feathery touch, trickling from the middle of his back to the lower half but stopping above the waistline of the other's sweatpants. Sasuke bit hard on his bottom lip, withdrawing his hand just a fraction to watch for Naruto's reaction.

There wasn't one.

He dared the action again, but started higher, beginning from just below the nape of the blond's neck. He trailed that light touch down Naruto's spine, past the point where he'd previously started, and once again halted above the other's pants. _He's... soft..._ He wasn't sure if that was surprising for whatever reason, but his mind still made note of it. With his third try, he strayed from the centered path and began tracing what muscles he could see in the confines of his dark room, watching as they moved while he rhythmically breathed in his sleep. _How is he so beautiful...?_ Sasuke looped his finger tips around the bottom of Naruto's shoulder blade before brushing over what muscles laid over his ribs, then he went down his side and slid vertically and back up, once again following the center path.

Sasuke wanted to touch more. He wanted to lay his hands flush against the other's skin. He wanted to kiss every inch of him - ravish him - be selfish and finally give in to the relentless fantasies he'd had of the Uzumaki teen ever since he first developed a hunger for him. He was starving, he couldn't deny that, and this idiot didn't have a single clue.

Sasuke couldn't help but click his tongue in agitation, his hand resting on the bed. "I'm the idiot here..." he whispered. "Who am I kidding..." He let out a slow, saddened breath before raising his hand once more. Instead of following the intricate structure of Naruto's back, he softly and slowly wrote the very words he'd never say outloud:

 _I love you._

He let out another breath and retracted his hand for the final time. He didn't want to push his luck and though this started out as a satisfying exercise, it quickly plummeted his mood. Now he just felt moody and depressed. He moved himself, turning his back to Naruto and pressed it against the edge of the bed, legs folding cross-legged, shoulders slumped. Sullenly, he gazed down at the hand he'd used to indulge himself, the tips still tingling from the warmth Naruto always seemed to be radiating. _He really is like a puppy..._ He brought the hand to his face, placing the butt of his palm between his knitted eyebrows and pressed hard, fingers curling around inky black strands of his hair and clutching tightly. He felt so fucking frustrated!

Sasuke stiffened, feeling the bed move and listened as Naruto once again shifted, assumably rolling over. He now faced the corpse still Sasuke, the room falling into silence once again once the blond settled. _That scared me..._ Sasuke thought, removing his hand and letting it drop onto his leg. He lowered his head and closed his eyes. _Maybe... I'll say it when we graduate... Then I can just - I can just move far away, so he won't have to deal with me..._ Again, another ache gripped inside Sasuke's chest, his face twisting in reaction to the pain.

"You're not an idiot," whispered a groggy voice, hot breaths spilling over a pale ear.

Sasuke's whole body jumped. If he wasn't of more dignified lineage, the raven more than likely would've yelped out of sheer terror in that moment had he been anyone else - but alas, the most the blond got was the startled raven whirling around to look at him with confused, owlish eyes.

"Wh-Wh-Wha... Wh... You... You're..." Sasuke stammered, shaming the Uchiha pride. He wasn't sure which question to ask first and he wasn't even sure how to form them at all.

"You're not an idiot," Naruto merely repeated, eyeing the other with a sleep-filled gaze that appeared almost lusty. With how Naruto was now sort of draped at the edge of the bed, arms brought up beneath him with his cheek against his knuckles, head tilted, the expression on his face only seemed even more so.

"I'm not... ... What?" Sasuke finally said a coherent statement.

"I don't know who you're kidding, though..."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

He'd heard him.

Fuck.

"I..." Sasuke began but his words quickly fell away since they'd never had an objective to begin with. A shaky breath fell from the raven's lips. "I... I didn't... Did I... wake you? I'm - I'm sorry," Sasuke stuttered, mentally cursing at himself for both his trembling voice and the weird apology. Sasue never apologized for anything! Why did he have to say it now? Why did it slip out? Sasuked doubted he was actually apologizing for waking the blond up, but moreso apologizing for touching the other while he slept. Friends didn't do that. It was weird. Especially between guys. Especially between he and Naruto.

"You did," Naruto replied, raising himself up and keeping himself up with his palm locked underneath his chin, eyes staring down at Sasuke. To the Uchiha, Naruto somehow seemed superior with their positions like this and that overpeering look was a little too attractive on the other, causing Sasuke to withold himself from squirming beneath the gaze. Notably, however, he did close his legs.

"... My bad..." Sasuke mumbled, breaking eye contact from the other before he couldn't stand it anymore.

"... Sasuke."

Sasuke hesitantly looked back at the other, eyes narrowing. He hoped the look came out as annoyed rather than nervous, which was very much so how he felt. "What...?"

Naruto gave a smirk that, whether purposefully or not, unsettled Sasuke, before motioning with his free hand for the other to come closer. When Sasuke remained right where he was, Naruto took it upon himself to close their distance by crawling half way off the bed and to the point where he was invasively close to the other, which wasn't an uncommon thing to happen between the two. Naruto was never one to get a clue about personal space, especially when it concerned the Uchiha. Another frustrating yet endearing quality about the moron.

"Wh... What is it...? What're you doing?" Sasuke asked, trying to have a little more sturdiness in his voice, though it was obviously a front. He just hoped Naruto didn't notice, like usual. If the blond kept this up, Sasuke sincerely doubted the control he'd mustered up to this point would last much longer.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Tell me something...?" Sasuke asked, unsure, lowering his chin some as he handed the other a look of suspicion.

"Mmn." Naruto nodded before further removing himself from the bed, now standing on his hands and knees in front of Sasuke but not increasing the distance between them by any measure. To Sasuke, this sort of situation was a little...

"What... is it?" Sasuke asked cautiously, leaning away from the other without particularly meaning to. It was also a strain for the Uchiha to keep his eyes on Naruto's face and not allow them to dip down across the blond's upper naked half.

That smirk flashed again and Sasuke went completely rigid when Naruto closed the gap between them. He brought his lips to the raven's ear and breathed in a low, sensual voice, "I love you, too." Without giving Sasuke a second to properly react, the blond crashed his lips with lacking coordination against the Uchiha's, ultimately shoving him and causing him to fall onto his back. The kiss broke only temporarily from the action, Naruto moving over the raven in a flash and clasping their lips together once more.

Sasuke's mind instantaneously spiraled into a white, blinding fog. He didn't know what to do. What in the flying fuck was happening right now? Was he dreaming? Fantasizing again? But this - this felt so...

 _Fuck it._

Be it a fantasy or not, Sasuke was taking it. With that resignation, Sasuke allowed himself to melt into the hot kiss, hands moving to press over the pecks that hovered over him. _God_ , they felt almost as amazing as the kiss. Everything Sasuke had ever imagined before couldn't compare to the lock of their mouths right now.

When Naruto demanded entrance passed Sasuke's lips, the raven was all too willing to let him in. Their tongues pulled and wrestled and gripped, Naruto at one point biting at Sasuke's bottom lip in an aggressive and teasing manner before once again overtaking him.

Sasuke's fingers, lost, curled and pulled on Naruto's bare flesh, leaving faint red marks. Without notice to its owner, a small, unwilling sound escaped the raven. He wasn't sure how long Naruto had been kissing him, but he was feeling increasingly light-headed. When Naruto finally broke their heated connection, however, he felt nothing but disappointment and annoyance and almost anger, a sharp glare piercing the other.

Naruto grinned at the crossed look the other bared, "That's a scary look... Don't worry... We don't stop here..." The way he licked over his lips about drove the raven mad but the emotion was quickly forgotten when Sasuke realized where exactly Naruto was lowering himself to.

* * *

"How long...?"

"Hmm...?"

"How long have you... felt the same toward me?"

"Oh," Naruto replied, eyes rolling upward as he though it over. "... Maybe last year? Give or take a month or two, maybe."

"Last... _Last year_? That long ago?"

"Mmhm. When did you first start thinkin' my tractor was sexy?" Naruto asked with an arrogant looking grin. Sasuke wanted to swat it off his dumb, good-looking face.

"... About a year and a half ago..."

"Oh, so we weren't that far apart in noticing the other like that," Naruto said, seeming amused by this fact while Sasuke felt nothing but agitated.

 _We could've been together a year ago..._ was all he could think. He huffed into his pillow.

The both of them laid with their bear asses to the wind on Sasuke's futon on the floor, clothes discarded uncaringly somewhere in the room during their hormonal scramble. They hadn't actually had any intercourse, but the things they did with their hands and mouths was quite something in itself. Sasuke wasn't about to forget any of it any time soon.

"Why didn't you confess?" Sasuke asked, not having meant the question to sound so timid.

"Well, why didn't you?"

Sasuke made a face.

"I tried to test you a few times, to test the waters, I guess, but every time you seemed really blasé about things..."

"Test me?" Sasuke asked, looking at the other. "When?"

"Well, there was that one time I kissed you when I was pretending to be drunk at that party - "

"Pr - _Pretending_?" Sasuke growled, but Naruto rolled right on.

"And when I mentioned I broke up with my girlfriend last year - I tried to see your reaction."

 _I remember him doing that,_ Sasuke thought, looking away. _I was really happy... And I tried really hard not to show it..._

"And then there's all the times I get super close to you."

"Haa?" Sasuke turned to regard the other but was startled when, once again, Naruto was _right there_. "Er..." He reared his head some, unable to help the flush that overcame his face. "You... ... That was always on purpose? You were aware?"

"Highly aware... But I was somehow unobservant in your reactions despite desperately trying to see them... You're really good at hiding them from me face to face - not right now, though..." Naruto smiled widely, eyeing the color change on the Uchiha's face. That earned him a scowl.

"Idiot..."

"I thought it was a lost cause..." the blond continued, "I was probably going to confess to you at least before we graduated, but... until then, I was planning to be a chicken shit, honestly... But then..." Naruto's eyes fell hazy. "... When you started touching me earlier... It was really hard not to shiver. It was really hard not to roll over and pull you on top of me." Such words only increased the amount of red on Sasuke's otherwise pale complexion. "... And then you wrote that..." Naruto closed his eyes, smiling a more genuine smile as he remembered the way it felt. "I was a little confused at first... but then I realized you were spelling something... Ah, man, I felt like I was on cloud nine. I couldn't think how to react at first without just straight up jumping you." He laughed.

Sasuke burried his face into his pillow. _I wanna hit him... So bad._ "Sounds fantastic... Go to sleep now."

Naruto laughed and stretched his arm over Sasuke, letting his hand rub over the small of the raven's back. "Can I sleep here with you...?"

Sasuke's face smothered further into the sack of cotton. "... I don't care..."

 _So cute..._ Naruto thought, bringing himself closer and burrying his face against Sasuke's shoulder "Hey, Sasuke...?"

"What...?" the raven grumbled bashfully.

"I love you."

Sasuke's stomach flipped. "... I love you, too... Idiot."

* * *

 _ **Long author's ramble below...**_

FINALLY. FINALLY. A FIC. JFC. IT'S BEEN SO HARD TO WRITE AND FINISH ANYTHING, OH MY DEAR GOD. I SWEAR - I'VE BEEN TRYING SO HARD, AND I JUST... I JUST... *CRIES EVERYWHERE.* I'M SORRY. ;_;

IT'S BEEN SO LONG - TOO LONG. I HAVEN'T FINISHED A SINGLE FUCKING FIC THIS YEAR AND NOW THIS YEAR IS ALMOST OVER, WHAT THE FLYING HELL? WEHHHH TT_TT

For all those wondering about about **FL3SH** \- no, it absolutely has not been abandoned at all. I've tried several, _several_ times to write it but my writing muse has been dead almost this whole fucking year. I've tried several, _several_ times to also write other fics, in which I have million as WIPs but haven't been able to finish them. I found this prompt somewhere on tumblr and though it's not particularly what I've been in the mood to write at all, I figured putting out something more simplistic and fluffy - putting out something at all - might help me get my mojo back. ;_; Subsequently, I haven't been reading as much fanfiction as I use to before either, which is usually what sparked my inspiration to write, so. I have a few things going on in my life at the moment, but once that gets settled, perhaps I can remedy what's going on here. Maybe. Idk. Ugh. ""orz

Hopefully you guys enjoyed this, and hopefully I won't disappear for this long again! *intense nervous sweating* (Please withold very little hope for that, oh god.) If that happens, I'll try to at least put out cute little short things like this to reassure I haven't dropped off the face of the Earth. I hate when other writers do this - I don't wanna be one of them. ;_;""" ImeanIguessIlreadyamthough, but wahhh. FUUU.

*rolls off a cliff*

( **possible spoilers below if you haven't finished Naruto** )

ALSO. NARUTO'S OVER NOW. *CRIES A THOUSAND OCEANS* I HAVEN'T WATCHED THE LAST MOVIE. I HAVEN'T READ ANY OF THE STUFF ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN. *INTERNAL SCREAMING* Idk when I'll be able to but aside from that - I FIND NARUTO'S SON ADORABLE. Idk how to feel about their daughter nor Sasuke's daughter or the other children quite yet since my vast lack of knowledge. I'm not sure if I'm a fan of the overly predicted ships in the end, whether that be due to my feelings on Hinata (I've never been overly fond of shy-type, gentle characters, but she did come out strong in the end) and Sakura (I've never really had anything against her) or if it's because Sasuke and Naruto are just for some reason my ultimate OTP and no one's ever going to be good enough for the other unless it's them. *SHRUG* I ship my ship and my ship shall forever sail on into the fandom horizon.

WELL, that's all the rambling I have for this fic!  
Sorry again, and thank you for reading! ;uu;;""


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